This story was originally published by the Alaska Beacon.
Gubernatorial candidate Click Bishop, a former Republican state senator, on Wednesday announced he had chosen Greta Schuerch, an Alaska Native corporation board member, as his running mate.
Bishop is one of 18 candidates for Alaska governor. Incumbent Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy, a Republican, is constitutionally prevented from serving a third consecutive term.
Schuerch, 46, is from Kiana, a village in Northwest Alaska. She works as senior lead for government and external affairs for Teck Alaska, a Canadian mining company that operates Red Dog, an enormous but aging zinc mine near Kotzebue.
Schuerch was elected in 2025 to serve on the board of directors of NANA Regional Corp., an Alaska Native corporation that owns the land where Red Dog operates. The corporation serves more than 15,500 Iñupiat shareholders.
At a campaign event in Fairbanks, Schuerch said that she is motivated to run for lieutenant governor due to the high cost of energy and a state budget deficit impacting families and schools.
“The stakes are too high to sit on the sideline,” she said.
Schuerch is a registered nonpartisan. She ran for Alaska House in 2012 to represent the North Slope and Northwest Arctic. She lost in the Democratic primary election that year to Ben Nageak.
Bishop is the third gubernatorial candidate to name a running mate. Republican Bernadette Wilson named former GOP Sen. Mike Shower of Wasilla as her pick for lieutenant governor; former Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson, a Republican, chose Josh Church as his running mate.
Bishop served 12 years in the Alaska Senate. He previously served as a state labor commissioner in Republican administrations.
Alaska lieutenant governors assume the governorship if the office becomes vacant. They are also Alaska’s top elected official overseeing state elections.
Candidates have until June 1 to file for the Aug. 18 primary election.
All gubernatorial candidates and their running mates will appear on the same primary election ballot. The top four vote-getters, regardless of party affiliation, will advance to the November general election.
This story is republished from the Alaska Beacon under Creative Commons licence CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Alaska Beacon is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Alaska Beacon maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Andrew Kitchenman for questions: info@alaskabeacon.com. Follow Alaska Beacon on Facebook and Twitter.
